Dutch Crop tour onions - week 38
Growers have made great progress with the onion harvest
The onion harvest was going very well until this week's rain. A large part of the onion acreage throughout the Netherlands has already been cleared and many onions have already been harvested. Concerns about quality are expressed.
It was a little later than other years, but from the beginning of September the harvesting of the sowing onions went well. Many onions are now in the swath and even between the rain showers, corners of onions have been lifted by the growers of the Boerenbusiness Dutch Crop tour. However, some growers also took advantage of the good weather to load the onions.
The Gewastour plot is in the swath in Wezup in Drenthe. Just before the first splashes of rain this week, onion grower Arjen Jakobs managed to harvest all the onions just in time. The onions were also harvested a little further north in Eenrum (Groningen) before the rain started.
Sunburn
On the other side of our country in Philippine (Zeeland), the onions were able to dry in the field for almost five days, after which they were loaded and stored. The plot in Lepelstraat (North Brabant) was swathed for twelve days before it could be sanded.
Due to the high temperature at the beginning of September, many growers waited before loading for quality reasons, for example to prevent sunburn. This did not go well everywhere, especially with red onions - which are generally more sensitive to this - sunburn has occurred.
Quality leaves much to be desired
It was already clear earlier this season that the quality would not be that good on average. At the beginning of the summer, fusarium infestations were found here and there and more as the harvesting time approached. The development of the onions also generally differed from the book due to the special growing season. This now results in relatively many thick necks (also called bolts) compared to other years and onions that hardly want to be ironed. Some parts of a plot - and sometimes even an entire plot - are still quite green, but there no longer seems to be any growth. Green harvesting is normally not a problem, but with this special growing season we have to wait and see how these lots develop in storage.
Recent trial harvests during the Crop Tour confirm that the percentage of thick necks is considerably higher and fusarium is also quite present this year. Growers are also noticing the fusarium and they think they are seeing more than has been the case in recent years. By leaving the swaths on the field longer, they hope to lose some of it. The trial harvest figures will be published when all plots have been cleared.
Jesse Torringa
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